Improvement in holdbacks for carriages



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REUBEN ROLPH, OF COVENTRY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HOLDBACKS FOR CARRIAGES.

Specificatibn forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,958, dated September 15, 1863; antedated November 2, 1861.

To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, REUBEN ROLPH, of Goventry, in the county of Ghenango and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Holdback for the Thills of Wheel- Vehicles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad. to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is asideview of my invention; Fig. 2, a detached side view of the hook of my invention; Fig. 3, adetached plan or top view of my invention; Fig. 4, a plan or top view of Fig. 1, or of the invention complete;'Fig. 5, a detached perspective view of the rubber tube.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a holdback for the thills of vehicles that will admit of the breeching or holdback straps detaching themselves or slipping out from the holdbacks as the animal moves out from between the thills.

The invention is more especially designed to be used with whiffletrees, which are provided with means for detaching simultaneously both traces, to liberate the horse from the whiffletree-adevice which will be greatly augmented in value by the within-described invention, as the latter in connection with the former admits of the horse being completely and instantly detached from the vehicle.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a metallic hook, cast with and on a plate, B, which is secured by screws a toits thill C. The hook A faces or extends forward from the whiffletree, and is of sutlicient size to receive the ring D of a breeching or holdback strap, E, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The plate B has acentral narrow portion, 1), which may be termed a' bridge, and on which an india-rubber tu'be, F, is fitted. The bridge I) is shorter than the tube, and it has a semicircular recess or concave, c, at each side of it, as shown plainly in Fig. 3. The tube F is secured on the bridge I) by means of ,wire 61, said wires encompassing the tube near each end, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. In consequence of the tube F being rather longer than the bridge I), and the latter fitted in the recess formed by the bridge, and the bridge provided with the recesses or concaves. the tube will be compressed and made to bulge upward against the point of the book A, and this result is fully insured in consequence of the tube not being allowed to bulge out in a downward direction, the thill G preventing that. The tube F therefore serves as a lock for the hook A, and prevents the casual detachment ot' the ring D from the hook, at the same time the ring is allowed to slip freely off the hook when the horse moves outward from between the thills, no manipulation of any kind being required.

I am aware that metallic springs have been applied to holdback-hooks, but they are in consequence of exposure to the weather liable to get out of order and lose their elasticity. They also add considerably to the expense of the hooks, as their application involves some complexity, and in case of being broken or injured in any way they require to be repaired by a mechanic.

In my invention if the tubes F become ruptured or impaired by use, new ones can be applied by any one with the greatest facility.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the india-rubber tube F, bridge b, and hook A, arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

REUBEN ROLPH.

Witnesses:

R. B. PRINDLE, O. H. CHURCH. 

